Few employees able to cash in unused sick leave

Of employees who received sick leave in medium and large private establishments, just 17 percent were allowed to obtain cash in exchange for unused sick days. Among those employees in a sick-leave plan with a cash-in provision, roughly half also had a carryover provision in their plan.

In particular, 9 percent of employees with a sick leave benefit could opt to cash in their sick leave or carry it over from year to year—8 percent were subject to a cash-in provision only.

Over half of workers who received sick leave in medium and large private establishments were able to carry over days of sick leave from year to year; specifically, 53 percent were permitted to carry over unused sick leave. Among those employees in a sick-leave plan with a carryover provision, about 4 out of 5 faced a limit on the total number of days accumulated.

These data are from the BLS Employee Benefits Survey. Learn more in Employee Benefits in Medium and Large Establishments, 1997, BLS Bulletin 2517(PDF 804 K). Sick leave data presented here are for full-time employees.